This invention relates to a method and apparatus for placing edge pieces on battery plates.
Industrial battery plates are wrapped in a sheet of fiberglass mat. The edge of the battery plate that this mat is wrapped around is protected with an edge piece. In the past this edge piece was a pliable strip of plastic material which was manually wrapped around the edge of the battery plate and heat sealed to a plastic overwrap. This process is labor-intensive and quite costly.
In an attempt to simplify this process, pre-formed plastic boots were provided that fit tightly over the edges of the battery plates. While these boots lowered the cost, they still had to be manually installed. The size of any mass-formed plastic part will not be absolutely repeatable. If a boot was too small it would break when it was installed by automated equipment, and if it was too large it would not stay in place as a battery plate underwent further processing. Installing a boot is made even more difficult because the fiberglass mat does not provide a smooth surface to install the boot over. Each time a boot was not properly installed production was stopped. Thus, it was not possible to install these boots with automated equipment.